


chaotic dumb gay children

by justasuperfan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, But i might not get to em for a while, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I just need something to fix my writer’s block, I’ll make it completed when I’m done taking prompts, Jealousy, M/M, Whump, Yeah so send me a zukka prompt and i might write it, oneshots, prompts, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justasuperfan/pseuds/justasuperfan
Summary: check the tags for instructions. basically just send me zukka prompts and i’ll get to them when i can! (non-sexual please) <3
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> my new suki/yue fic is at a standstill and i need help to start writing again.

Instructions in tags, notes, and summary. Send in some prompts! 

I like writing fluff, angst, whump, h/c but i won’t write sexual stuff (ace solidarity✊) and i’ll specify anything else i don’t want to write if i recieve a prompt with it.

I did have another prompts work for other fandoms and I swear I’ll get to it when I’m not overloaded with zukka feelings.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sokka is jealous, and he knows he shouldn’t be. but it hurts thinking about everyone he’s lost. 
> 
> Prompt from @zukkaromione

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok hi @zukkaromione! Not sure if this is what you wanted but it’s what came to my mind so I hope you enjoy
> 
> Thanks for this prompt, it’s so fricking cute and I had to write it immediately. Everyone else who submitted prompts already I’ve literally drafted every one of them lol I love every single one. Not sure when they’ll be out, but just know I’m working on them :)
> 
> TW: flashbacks I think? lmk if there’s anything else triggering in here and I’ll add it to the list

He was always told that the light went out of people’s eyes when they died. But for Yue, it was the opposite. All the silver moonlight pooled inside of her irises as she breathed her last human breath. She was light. And she was _beautiful_.

Sokka hadn’t been able to save her. He lost his first love, the only person that he’d ever really loved at that point. It had hurt so much for so long. He hadn’t been sure he would be able to go on as he watched her body disappear in his arms and the moon shimmered brighter than ever. The gaping hole in his heart should have killed him, but it didn’t. He kept living. And regretted letting her go every day of his life.

Until he met Zuko.

Well, not when he met Zuko. Whenever the guy had actually switched to the good side, that was when the regret stopped. And sure, he loved Suki, but she wasn’t the same. She didn’t completely stop the hurt. It was only after he had an actual real conversation with Zuko that he understood what true love felt like.

That didn’t mean it stopped hurting. Just less frequently. 

He wanted to be around Zuko all the time, to make sure he didn’t fade away like Yue had. He wanted to make sure his boyfriend didn’t leave him for anything. Not death, not some stupid heroic mission, not another guy to date. And yes, maybe Sokka was being possessive and jealous. But every time they were apart, the alarms blaring in his mind and that too-familiar hole in his chest were hard to ignore. He tried to stop. Really, he did. But it was so hard whenever he had to watch the Firelord talk to literally any other person their age. He was just scared.

So, long story short, he completely flipped out when he walked in on Zuko holding Mai’s hand.

It was like Sokka’s vision zeroed in on their intertwined hands like it was a threat that needed neutralizing. He instinctively reached behind him for his boomerang before remembering it was gone. And then he remembered he didn’t need it anyway. This wasn’t a physical fight he was walking into. Sometimes, his brain just reverted back to the times when he was on the run and waking every night to fight a new threat.

“Sokka! Hey, I was just about to get you.” Zuko stood and let Mai’s hand fall back to her lap. The girl looked up at Sokka with tears in her eyes. That was strange. Mai cried?

He couldn’t pay any attention to that. The only thing going through his mind was _Tui and La, he’s cheating on me and he’s going to leave me like Yue and Suki did and he hates me he hates me he always lies—_

“Sokka?”

Sokka blinked and yanked his arm out of Zuko’s tender grip. “Don’t.”

Zuko stumbled back like he’d been hit. Something in the back of Sokka’s mind whispered not to yell at Zuko, that he’d been through enough already, but he ignored it. The Firelord had lied to him. He’d left him for someone else. His heart already began to fall apart.

“I was just—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” The Firelord’s eyes began watering. Sokka couldn’t care less. “You...You _know_ I love you. I thought you loved me, too.”

“It’s not what it looks like—”

“Stop it! Do you know how much it hurts when someone leaves me? Yeah, you do. So why would you do it?!”

Mai tried to speak, but Sokka tuned her out. Whatever she had to contribute couldn’t be good. And Agni, he was just so overprotective and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop once he’d gotten going. All his built up guilt and anger and pain poured out of him like a river. Maybe he should’ve let them explain, but he couldn’t. It just… _hurt._

“ _You_ stop! Maybe if you’d listened to someone for once in your life, they wouldn’t leave you! Maybe that’s why you’ve lost everyone you’ve ever cared about!” Zuko had tears pouring down his face as he screamed. Sokka felt like someone had slapped him and then shoved him to the ground. How could he say that? How could...Things messed up so quickly.

As soon as the words left the Firelord’s mouth, he faltered and froze. “S-Sokka, I didn’t—”

The water tribe chief ran from the room as fast as his legs would carry him. All while tears poured down his face.

…

The room was dark, but Sokka’s eyes adjusted enough for him to make out the empty spot on the bed where Zuko should’ve been sleeping. It was such a stupid, petty fight but...Zuko was right, and Sokka didn’t want to admit it. Sokka was acting rashly and he didn’t listen to anyone. He usually thought things through thoroughly, which was probably why he laid awake in the darkness and stared at the empty bed.

He needed to apologize. If Mai had been crying, maybe she had lost someone or something bad happened and Zuko was comforting her. But Sokka just jumped to conclusions because he was so desperate to have someone to love. He was stupid, stupid, stupid. He hated that he couldn’t just apologize like anyone else would. He was too stubborn.

Thoughts raced through his mind, like blinding colors penetrating the night. It was impossible to sleep. He had to do something, or he would be awake all night.

Before he could stop himself, the door was open and he was tiptoeing down the massive palace hallways. He knew where Zuko was sleeping. Though it wasn’t his first choice to break into the guest room, he didn’t have anything to do for once in his life. There was no war, no one at the water tribe needed help rebuilding, and everything was fine. So his only option was to make amends the only way he knew how.

The door opened easy and he saw Zuko lying on the bed. He looked so small and frail all alone. Sokka felt the broken pieces of his heart start to piece themselves together, the hole mending itself so he could breathe again. He would apologize. Everything would go back to the way it was, and he would try to be less overprotective.

He slid into bed without a second thought, as easy as breathing. Zukos breath hitched quietly, but not quiet enough that Sokka couldn’t hear. Then came the whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Sokka closed his eyes as a warm fire bender arm wrapped around his waist, the other in his hair. “Shh. Less tally, more sleepy.” After a moment of silence nestled in the warmth of his amazing boyfriend, he answered.

“I’m sorry too.”

Zuko pulled him closer until his nose was nestled in Sokka’s hair. It was like being hugged by happiness, and the bright colors began fading away as his stressed thoughts left. 

It would take a while to get better. But that’s what people who love you are there for, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Love you all <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zukka teacher au. what happens when zuko begins teaching at a new school and meets the life of the party? coffee dates and students shipping them ensue.
> 
> Prompt from @AmmoKnotKnot7 
> 
> Un-betaed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo @AmmoKnotKnot7! thanks sm for the prompt, i had a lot of fun with it. this probably isn't what you had in mind, but it's the best i could do for ya. hope you enjoy!
> 
> (i've never read a professor au so i kinda just made zukka fluff but they're adults. also the students hear about this of course and love it.)
> 
> TW: mentions of abuse

Zuko had always loved English.

Even as a kid, he spent hours doing and redoing his grammar homework because it just clicked for him. He had never been good at much else. At least, that’s what his dad said whenever he punished his own son. So, Zuko had a pretty rough childhood. But going to school and chatting with his teachers for hours about English fascinated him. It always made everything better. So what better option than to move out as quickly as possible and become an English teacher?

It didn’t go as planned, but it didn’t _not_ go as planned. He got a job at the local high school close to his uncle’s house. And as much as he’d always wanted to be a teacher, the first day was hard. Almost too hard. At least at the beginning, it was.

Then he met Sokka.

...

Zuko didn’t miss the strange frowns directed toward the scarred half of his face. They just came with a job at that point. It didn’t make it hurt less. He moved through the office quickly and quietly, hiding from the stares and sticking close to the walls. He hated people. He was only a teacher because it was so much easier to talk to kids, who didn’t know any better, than it was to try and make conversation with adults. 

“Hey!” A (very pretty) man approached him from the back of the room with an outstretched hand. “ I’m Mr. Tui, but the kids call me Sokka. You new here?”

“Ummm, yeah. I’m Mr—Actually, would you mind if i took a page out of your book? I’m Zuko.”

“Sweet, all the cool teachers go by their first names. I can tell we’re gonna be friends.” Sokka placed a cold hand on Zuko’s shoulder and smiled. 

“Actually, it’s...complicated. My family isn’t the best.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. But you’re a part of this family now! We’re gonna love having you here.”

And God, it was hard not to stare directly into Sokka’s very blue eyes. Not to mention his _muscles_ and the way his hair looked like baby wolf fur. That is, very soft. The man was just...perfect. But as soon as he thought it, Zuko knew it would never work out. The guy was probably very straight, too old for him, or didn’t date work colleagues. All of which were understandable, but still hurt.

“You’re young, right? Just out of college?” Sokka asked, which startled the other man out of his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah. Twenty-eight. I just got out of eight years at Ba Sing Se university.”

“Woah, right next door! And that’s cool, I’m thirty. Started working here a few years ago since I graduated college pretty early and needed something to do. What do you teach?”

Zuko blinked. Then smiled. That was a rare occurrence for him, but it was hard not to smile around Sokka when he carried on a delightful conversation and lit up the room around him. Oh yeah, he would be fun to work with. “I--Um...English.”

The other teacher laughed. “Ironic, considering you don’t seem to speak it.” Zuko’s smile fell, and Sokka’s immediately after. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I offend you? I didn’t mean to, I was just trying to be funny.” He seemed sorry, but not in a begging sort of way. It was nice. 

“It’s okay. I just haven’t heard many jokes in a while, so it’s hard not to take anything literally.”

“Oh, we’re gonna change that. The joke part, I mean. I’m a comedic genius, if I do say so myself.”

And just like that, a friendship was born. Sokka sought him out in the hallway between classes to gossip about the latest school news and the other teachers. Soon, Zuko was learning everything about the other man. His sister the neurosurgeon, his best friend the early college graduate and photographer, and his other best friends, the martial arts instructor and the ex-police officer were all a part of Sokka’s many stories. Zuko learned all about Sokka’s students in the air and space program and in the physics class, his latest projects he had lined up for them, and the school events he planned. Compared to him, Zuko was _boring_. English was really his only interest, and his family was either locked up or missing--except for Azula. She was going to weekly therapy and interning for the boss of this new company. 

So it was safe to say Sokka’s life was more interesting than his own. And the small crush began to grow and grow until literally nothing in Zuko’s thoughts didn’t involve Sokka. It was exhilarating, but he knew to push the thoughts away. Sokka would never date him. Until the day it finally happened.

Zuko was standing outside his classroom door when Sokka approached like usual. But this time was different. Something in the air was charged with electricity. With life. Zuko didn’t hate it, but it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his stomach jump.

“Hey, Zuke! How’s it going?”

“Same as always. What’s up?”

Sokka smiled, his grin cheesier than usual. Zuko found himself stepping back a bit as the other man came closer. “So, we’ve been talking for a while now, and I found that I really like you. You’re smart, cool, understanding...I could go on forever, really. But I’m here to ask if you want to go on a date with me.”

Zuko’s heart literally stopped beating. He was going to die. Was this a dream? It felt like a dream. Because there is no way in all of the universe that _Sokka_ just admitted to having feelings for _Zuko._ Zuko, the boring English teacher who didn’t ever have any stories to tell. Zuko, who had slowly fallen for a coworker even though he knew the other one wasn’t gay. Zuko, who found himself hugging Sokka. The first person he’d hugged in a long time.

…

The next morning, Zuko awoke at the crack of dawn and met Sokka at the coffee shop.

“Hey! Glad you made it, I wasn’t sure anyone would want to be up this early.” Sokka jogged toward him after yelling across the store. Zuko was literally frozen in place because why did this man have to be so beautiful? He had obviously combed his hair and let it hang loose, framing his face. His eyes also seemed more vibrant than usual, and his brightly colored clothes reflected that. Was this guy ever in a bad mood?

He held two coffees out to Zuko. “You said that one time that you loved caramel, so I got you a caramel latte. I wasn’t sure whether you liked iced or hot, so I got both! Do you like it?”

“I...uhm...I like you so much.” Zuko forced out. Tears pricked his eyes as he took the iced coffee. Sokka began drinking the hot one, and smiled at Zuko.

“English teacher who?” He laughed and then took another drink. “I’m glad you liked it. I wasn’t sure if I remembered right.”

“How _did_ you remember I’d said that? That must have been months ago.”

“Oh, it was. But when you like someone, you tend to remember everything about them.”

Zuko stared blankly for a moment before taking a long drink of his favorite coffee. Sokka was just...perfect. And they got to see each other every day when they were teaching, so it was perfect. Zuko couldn’t believe he’d almost forgone this whole thing because he didn’t think it was okay to date work colleagues.

“Let’s sit, shall we?”

Sokka found them a seat near the window. As the sun left burning red streaks on the sky, Sokka’s cold hand fell into Zuko’s. “School starts in twenty minutes.” Zuko pointed out, flinching away from the touch. Sokka frowned but immediately smiled again. 

“You’re right. Sorry, I forgot you don’t like physical contact. I just...God, I like you so much.”

Zuko smiled. After a few minutes of talking, he slipped his hand into Sokka’s and they got in their cars to go to school.

...

Kuzon hated school. Didn’t every kid?

He _loved_ the air and space program though, mostly because of his amazing teacher and a class full of new friends. Everything about that class seemed great. English, however, was the worst. Sure, Mr. Zuko was nice and all, but he was boring. Mostly he stayed quiet unless he was teaching--a large contrast to Mr. Sokka, who told stories every second of the day. Everything seemed to remind the teacher of his friends and adventures.

Which was why, the day he walked into his air and space program class, he was surprised to see Mr. Zuko there. 

The man immediately left when he saw students coming in, but it was strange to see him in there at all. What was going on? Were the two of them friends? That seemed very unlikely considering their wildly drastic personalities. Kuzon figured he shouldn’t care, but he would die if Mr. Sokka got boring because of a friendship with Mr. Zuko. 

Class continued as usual--working on projects, chatting with friends, listening to the teacher talk. But his tone was lighter, happier somehow. Then he began talking about a date he’d been on that morning. Kuzon found himself less and less interested in his project and more entranced in the story of the shy man who drank coffee with his teacher. Mr. Sokka explained the man as if he was some sort of gorgeous god.

Everyone was buzzing about the mysterious date by the end of class, all holding their half-finished model rockets that they hadn’t gotten a chance to work on at all. Kuzon’s friends even talked about the mystical date at lunch. Some gossiped about what teacher it could be. Mr. Fire, the counselor? The two teacher seemed pretty similar, but it wasn’t a good match for that reason. Mr. Jeong Jeong? Oh, no way. That guy was way too old for Mr. Sokka. 

The next classes were the same, but Mr. Sokka described more than just one date. He went on and on about a magical dinner and a night at the movies. Pretty much everyone was swooning. The class began asking more specific questions, but were no closer to figuring out who it was. Some kids started shipping the physics teacher with other ones, but mainly Mr. Zuko. He seemed to fit the exact description of Mr. Sokka’s dream boy. But that couldn’t be right. The two of them were way too different for that. Kuzon just refused to believe it.

Until his senior year, when the physics teacher walked in with one arm slung around the English teacher’s shoulders and the other in the air to show off his shiny engagement ring. Kuzon gaped. How?! 

…

Sokka enjoyed the multitude of questions his students threw at him once he walked in with his future husband. “Alright, settle down. We still have to have class, you know.”

A few of the students laughed. Sokka turned to Zuko and almost kissed him before remembering where they were. “I love you.” He whispered before saying much louder, “This is the mystery date! Whoever guessed right within these two years gets an automatic A on the quiz.” There came a barrage of groans and protests. “Okay, I was joking. But good work, guys. This is my fiancé.”

Zuko gave a sheepish wave. The class went insane, and Sokka liked it that way. 

“I have a class to teach.”

Sokka fake-pouted. “Fine, hubby-to-be. Love ya.”

With that, Zuko left. Sokka smiled wider than he ever had before as he cut off the questions and started class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> currently outlining a youtuber au 😊


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zukka streamer au. zuko makes a youtube channel, and what happens next defines a new chapter of his life.
> 
> Prompt from @emma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi emma, thanks for this prompt! i had a ton of fun with it, and @she-ras-sister and @rynliadon gave me tons of ideas for it. i'm not much of a gamer myself, so i couldn't write much in detail except the games i do play, sorry about that. hope you enjoy!
> 
> skip to the end of the *** if you want to get to the actual youtuber and zukka part, the beginning is just the start of zuko's channel and him crushing on sokka :)
> 
> TW: implied self-hatred and implied child abuse (just the ozai and zuko stuff)

***  
It was simple, really. If you did the math, all the numbers would point you directly to the inevitable outcome. Zuko and Sokka were always meant to be together.

Unfortunately for Zuko, he hated math. So he was beyond flustered by the events that followed.

He had just been watching YouTube in his room when it all started. He enjoyed background music when he did his homework, and even instrumental music didn’t seem to work. He needed something that would be distracting to other people. but helped him from dissociating as he wrote down the stupid calculus problems. YouTube it is. He clicked around until he found this one gamer who streamed all his games. Judging by the views, he was a good choice. Zuko clicked on it and watched the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen in his entire life come up on screen.

Was he drooling? He felt like he was drooling. This boy—what was his profile name? Oh yeah, Boomerang—had rich copper skin, chin-length dark hair, and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. And that jawline...and those lips...Okay, he was definitely drooling.

Zuko found himself entranced with the video. The way this guy talked made you feel like you’d known him all your life. He was funny, and insanely attractive, but analytical. He won every round of whatever game he was playing that time—Zuko was paying more attention to his face than the actual video—and liked to rattle off random statistics and the strategies he used to win. He was so Zuko’s type it hurt.

It became a habit. After school, he watched Sokka’s new livestream. (Sokka wasn’t secretive about his name in the videos.) If Uncle came in, Zuko shut it off and pretended to do homework. He limited himself to one hour of YouTube a day so he wouldn’t stare at the screen for hours and never finish his homework. 

Then came the day he realized he wanted to make his own videos. Zuko didn’t know why, but he suddenly just wanted to play games and talk to people as easily as Sokka did. He wanted to have as much fun as the other boy. He wanted to play games and have a channel and have something to be passionate about. 

So a channel was born-- _the blue spirit._

“Hello, Zuko here. So, I’ve never really made a YouTube channel...I, uh, watch a few but...Oh, whatever.”

He deleted the video and started again. “Hi, it’s me. So I’m going to start with an introduction, then…”

And it was hard. He hated that when he tried to think on his feet or be cool and laid back like Sokka, he ended up being a blubbering mess. After five failed takes, he switched off the camera and just began recording the laptop’s screen. It was a lot easier when he knew no one could see his ugly face and trace him back to his father, the governor. 

He switched on the recording and began playing the first game he could think of—Minecraft. It was simple and easy, a game Zuko was used to. The video was bad quality and the audio sucked, but Zuko managed to post it within a day of making it. 

The days went by and a few views popped up, one or two likes in a week. Then he got his first comment:

_Katara💙_

_Pretty good for your first video! I’m looking forward to seeing more :)_

Zuko hadn’t smiled that big in a while. It felt good to get validation for something he’d been doing just for pleasure. That comment gave him enough motivation to start making more videos, and eventually play more games. He watched enough of Sokka’s videos to learn Fortnite, Among Us, and eventually more strategy games. He posted five times a day sometimes and other times had a mental block for weeks before he managed to record again.

And then came the subscribers.

Within a few months, he had over a thousand people who actually took the time to watch his videos. The first commenter, Katara, had stuck with him through the whole ride, and commented that her friends Toph, Aang, and Suki had watched the videos. But what really shocked Zuko was that _Sokka, the_ Sokka, watched his videos.

Maybe he wasn’t so worthless after all

***

One day was normal, but the next was far beyond the concept of regularity.

_@boomerang-guy: Yo, blue spirit, hmu on snapchat if u can (boomerang.sokka)_

Zuko stopped in the middle of his livestream, muted his mic, and quite literally squealed like a little girl. He pinched himself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. (It wasn’t.) His most fantastical dream was coming true for some insane reason. He finished the game as fast as possible and clicked on Snapchat so hard he almost broke his finger.

Two seconds later, a message was sent. Before Zuko could even think about anything else, Sokka replied. 

_boomerang.sokka: heyo! so i really love ur videos and u in general, and my friends won’t stop bullying me until i ask—wanna stream together sometime? you pick the game, time, place, i’ll do it._

Holy _fuck_. His day couldn’t get any more amazing and nerve-wracking at the same time. He typed out a message before his brain caught up to his hands:

_I’d love to! I’m free anytime after 3pm here, and I’ll play anything really. I’ve heard Among Us is fun?_

No, he shouldn’t send it. Too cheesy. He read it over about fifty times, his mind racing. He wasn’t going to send it.

Then his fingers spasmed and, by some coincidence, hit the return key. Sweat immediately poured down his long black hair and into his one working eye. Shit, shit shit… What if Sokka was just doing it on a dare? Or he realized he didn’t really like Zuko? What if he replied to quick, or too slow, or he messed everything up because his dad was right he was a disgrace—

_boomerang.sokka: sounds good! i’ll message u until then, sifu hotman_

...

“Welcome to the game palace! That’s my sister, Katara, my ex-girlfriend, Suki, and my friends, Aang and Toph!” 

Zuko looked around and took in the multicolored LED lights, humongous flat screen TV, rainbow game controllers lying around, and the mountain of energy dr8nk cans in the trash. A girl around his age and a younger boy stared at him from over a Nintendo Switch, another girl his age gawked from a gaming chair, and the last one wasn’t even looking in his direction.

There was a long, awkward pause before he figured he should say something. “Uh...hello. Zuko here.”

Then came the chaos. They immediately began fawning over him, hugs and handshakes and all that jazz. From the way they all talked at the same time, it felt like he was a movie star. Which, he kind of was. A lot of people subscribed to his channels, and famous people reached out to collaborate with him. So Zuko let himself enjoy it, for once in his life.

One of the girls, with dark brown hair and vibrant blue eyes, smiled at him with tears in her eyes. “I'm so glad I finally get to meet you, Blue Spirit. I’m Katara.”

Zuko wasn’t exactly a touchy person, so what happened next surprised even him. He threw his arms around the younger girl and _hugged her_. Because without her, he never would’ve met any of them. He would be back at his house, desperately scratching for views. She was the reason he had friends.

“So, Zuke, the whole gang was gonna livestream Among Us today, then we can still do private streams with just the two of us later. Sound good?” Sokka patted him on the shoulder affectionately. Zuko just melted. Sokka was _touching_ him. Everything and everyone in this house was so unbearably amazing and cozy and he loved it. And his long-time celebrity crush wanted to hang out with him. He would’ve fainted if Katara weren’t still holding him up.

Tha gang introduced themselves one by one. Suki was apparently the energy drink-addict, and was a savage in shooting games according to her livestreams. Toph was blind, so she mostly just played sound-heavy games and figured the rest out from there. Katara and Aang were the softest and loved playing friendly games and making beautiful islands on Animal Crossing. Katara was also a beast when she wanted to be, and beat Sokka’s team every time she played Destiny with him. That left Sokka, who was pretty self-explanatory. He played literally every game in existence and almost always won because of his mathematical brain. Except when he played with his friends.

The gang all settled in their respective spots for the Among Us livestream--Suki in the gaming chair, Sokka on the top of the couch, Aang lying on his stomach, Katara cross-legged, Toph straight up laying on the floor, and Zuko sitting in the corner. He felt a smile cross his face as Sokka introduced him to the viewers.

They started the game and each stared at their phones to figure out which role they got for the game. Zuko got Crewmate first--blegh. He hated doing the boring tasks, and he always got voted out for being sus. 

Sabotages started every two seconds and not many people died, so the rest of the gang strongly suspected Aang. He hated the kill animation.

The chat was brutal yelling, accompanied by screeches and accusations in real life. Hakoda came down to make sure they weren’t being murdered a couple of times.

Katara and Suki, when it was their turn as imposters, killed them all within a few minutes. Sokka as an imposter lasted about five minutes before Suki yelled at him for the rest of the game, and the gang immediately knew he had killed her. Zuko managed to get in a few kills before Katara watched him vent.

At the end of the game, Zuko felt a bright smile cover his face. He looked up at the Twitch chat to see a ton of messages he hadn’t paid attention to. One in particular caught his eye:

_boomerang_fan_344: sokka and blue spirit are so cute, kiss already!!!_

Oh.

_Oh._

Zuko didn’t meet Sokka’s eye after that. The other boy hadn’t seemed to notice the message, but that didn’t stop the wave of embarrassment. Sokka wasn’t gay. He had mentioned dating Suki before. He could’ve been pan, or bi, or anything else, but that wasn’t likely. 

They decided to play Fortnite and then Minecraft so Aang and Katara would want to play with them. Then the two of them left to play Animal Crossing, and Suki, Sokka, and Zuko played a few rounds of Call of Duty. 

Another message appeared:

_rachel-hann: @blue_spirit @boomerang.guy kiss kiss kissssss_

It all happened so fast. Sokka turned to him with raised eyebrows, “Anything for the fans, right?”

Then he pecked Zuko’s lips, and pulled away quickly. Oh shit. The thoughts all disappeared from Zuko’s mind as he stared at the other boy. Both of their cheeks were immensely red. _No thinking. Just do._

That was what he did best, right? Make impulsive decisions?

So he pressed his lips to Sokka’s and wrapped his hands around him. Sokka, surprisingly, kissed back. They fell back onto the couch, a mess of tangled limbs and red faces. He vaguely heard Suki say something to the camera and then walk off, but he was too deep into his heart to focus on anything else. Sokka wrapped his hands in Zuko’s hair. It tickled, and Zuko _giggled_.

By the time they finally sat up, the sun had gone down out the window and the basement was empty except for the two of them. “So…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sokka stood briskly, smiling.

Zuko stared blankly at him. Did he not like the kiss? Did he hate Zuko for doing it? He never should have done anything--

“Not for streaming. For...a date? If you want to.”

“Yes. Yes, absolutely.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tattoo artist zuko and teacher sokka meet, chaos ensues
> 
> Prompt from KevinMoonLuv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, a lot to say here. sorry this took so long to get out and its pretty bad. it was supposed to be betaed by @rynliadon but some things happened with me and i cant access them anymore. which leads me into the next topic-
> 
> i’m sorry, but i will be little to not at all active on here anymore. i just can’t take chances with the stuff that’s happening with my friends right now. i’m sorry, but i’d just like to say that i cherish each and every single reader and commentor who take the time to lift me up. i love you all so much.
> 
> so, KevinMoonLuv, i hope this was what you were looking for! hope you enjoy :)
> 
> TW: none i think, let me know if i missed one in the comments

“Mr. Lee I’m guessing? It’s nice to finally meet you.” Sokka stuck his hand out with a friendly smile. As a high school teacher, he was used to not being able to meet the parents of his favorite students. Izumi’s parents especially. 

She was the best student in his physics class. Very hard working and smart, but also got along with all of the other students. She gushed about her dad all the time also. He sounded attractive from the way she described him, but Sokka never dreamed of dating his students dad...until they finally met. 

The man was tall and wore a red shirt with khakis and loafers. He had soft-looking, shiny black hair, gorgeous copper and gold eyes, pale skin disrupted by a large scar on the left half of his face, and both arms full of tattoos. Sokka noticed a dragon curling around the man's wrist and a column of flame reaching from his elbow to his mid forearm. The rest were hard to make out, but there was something that looked like a knife with a name next to it, and a wave.

“That’s me.”

Well, every rose must have its thorns. Insanely attractive man, but dry conversationalist. 

“Your daughter never mentioned you were so attractive.” Sokka tried, internally cringing. He was such a disaster bisexual that sometimes it hurt. 

The man blushed insanely and turned to the ground. Sokka honestly didn’t take someone with full sleeves of tattoos to be so cute and awkward. It didn’t fit his look, but it did at the same time. “She doesn’t mention me much.” Mr. Lee mumbled.

“Oh, no, she does. She never stops talking about you, so I know pretty much everything about you.”

If it was possible, he blushed even more. Sokka noticed Izumi arriving to the office from the corner of his eye and internally cursed his lack of time with this guy. “I didn’t know she really cared about me. Hey, Iz!” Mr. Lee called quietly to his daughter when he caught sight of her.

“Hey, Dad. Is Mr. Sokka boring you to death?”

Both men rolled their eyes as she walked over. “Very funny. I hope to see you again sometime, Mr. Lee.”

“Call me Zuko.”

Sokka watched them leave with something like longing stinging his heart. Katara, who was a drama teacher at the same school, bumped his shoulder and gave him a knowing smile. Sokka roller his eyes playfully as he stared through the window. 

…

“So who’s the tattoo guy?” Katara asked the next day after dismissal. 

“Ooh, tattoos? I need to meet him.” Toph, the gym and biology teacher (budget cuts), punched sokka in the arm. 

“Ow.” He rubbed his arm and poured. “It’s just a parent who had to pick up his daughter early. Nothing else.”

Aang, the history teacher, popped into the conversation. “He seems kinda scary, to be honest.” 

“A little.” Katara agreed. “Those tattoos make him look pretty threatening. Not entirely sure what sokka sees in him.”

Toph laughed. “Ooh, sokka’s got a boyfriend! Never thought that would happen.”

“Don’t bully him!” Aang pouted, just as the martial arts club director, Suki, walked in. 

“Bully who? Sokka? I’m down for that.”

Sokka gave her an affectionate slap. “It is not bullying hours. We’re all teachers, for goodness sake! Shouldn’t we be the nicest people on the planet?”

“Mmm, no.” Suki and Toph laughed as they spoke in unison, just as Katara and Aang exclaimed, “Yes!”

“Anyways, Suki, it’s just a school parent. No one important.”

“ _Just_ a school parent.” Katara laughed. “He seemed pretty important to me. He was into you.”

Sokka scoffed. “He’s probably not even gay, Katara. Just leave it alone, ‘kay?”

He almost began speaking again when everyone went silent, and Suki pointed through the window...where a certain, very attractive man with black hair and an arm crowded with tattoos stood at the door. With _flowers_. Sokka felt his heart melt just seeing the sight. There was a more than likely chance the flowers weren’t for him, but something felt _right_ when he looked at this man. 

The doors opened and Zuko stepped inside, smiling when he met Sokka’s gaze. “Uh, hi. Th-these are for you.” He held the flowers out, a mix of blues and whites. All types of flowers Sokka didn’t know the name of. He smiled at Zuko and blushed furiously. 

“Thanks. Are you here to pick up Izumi again?”

The man startled. “No, I’m actually here to see you.” He smiled awkwardly.

Katara nudged Sokka and he shot her a glare before she walked away. “That’s cool. I’ve been meaning to ask you about your tattoos. They're super cool!”

“Oh, these? I’m, uh, a tattoo artist, so I...yeah.”

Sokka’s eyes widened. “You gave those to _yourself_? Even more cool!”

“It’d be fun if you came down sometime. It’s on Piandao Drive.”

Okay, was he flirting? It felt like he was flirting. But that was nonsense, since he wouldn’t be into his daughter’s teacher. Sokka was probably just overthinking it, like he did with half the things in his life. Cute guy? Sokka usually immediately assumed it’s a mutual liking and began flirting before realizing the other man was straight. Cute woman? She usually thought Sokka was a creep, or ended up having a date. It was too complicated for the teacher to even try at that point.

“I can try, but I’m usually pretty busy with school.” He heard Toph snicker behind him and suddenly wished he was alone. But he never was, because his friends followed him virtually everywhere.

“Oh. Um, okay. I’ll just...when’s dismissal again?” Zuko asked.

“3:20. You’re about ten minutes early, so you can just hang around until Izumi has to leave.” Sokka offered a smile that didn’t change Zuko’s let down expression. Had he said something wrong? Was he the reason for the other man’s suddenly shy behavior?

He didn’t have time to think about it before Zuko said his goodbyes and left as quickly as he had come. 

…

“Mr. Sokka, do you mind if I talk to you?”

Sokka looked up from his lap, where the latest projects that needed grading were stacked. He took his legs down from the desk and set his pen on the desk. “Yeah, Izumi, what’s up?”

She adjusted her glasses and placed her backpack on the ground, pulling up a chair. Oh boy. That was never a good sign, even from kids. Sokka couldn’t think of anything that would be wrong though, because Izumi was his top student and never missed an assignment. Was she having home problems? 

“You met my dad last week.”

“I recall…”

“And he was flirting with you, Mr. Sokka. He told me all about it in the car.”

Sokka’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. So he had been right in assuming? He sputtered for a second before responding with, “He’s gay?”

Izumi laughed lightly, but her serious expression fell right back to her face. “Yep. I thought you knew, but…”

“God, I’m an _idiot_! I straight up dismissed him, Izumi, how do I redeem myself from this?”

The girl shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m just a physics student.”

“Right, right. Sorry, sometimes I’m around my teacher friends so much that I start treating everyone like we’re best friends.”

“We are friends, though. And friends tell each other when their dad is flirting with you. I know he’s at the tattoo parlor until 7, you should go say hi.” Izumi stood and grabbed her backpack. “Nice talking with you, sir.”

“You too, Iz. I’ll be at the parlor by 6.”

She smiled and left the room with a bounce in her step.

…

Sokka took a deep breath and looked at the street sign high above him. Piandao Drive. That was the street name, right? He looked at the arrangement of flowers Katara and Aang had helped him put together and hoped they were enough to apologize and flirt at the same time. 

_“Amaryllis to say he’s beautiful, calendula to imply he makes you happy, and camellia to tell him you want to date him.” Katara pointed out the arrange of warm-colored flowers._

_“Don’t forget red carnations!” Aang added. “And gardenias and marigolds for secret admiration, and lilies to apologize.”_

_Sokka laughed. “Guys, guys! Don’t you think this is too many flowers? And he probably doesn’t even know what any of these flowers mean. I don’t even know how you guys know this much about them!”_

_Katara placed a hand on her hip. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s enough judging by the bouquet he gave you.”_

Sokka shook his head at the memories from two hours before, and started down the street. He spotted the tattoo parlor, with its neon signs and dragons lining the glass walls, within minutes. A crimson sign read: _Blue Spirit Tattoos._

Through the windows, Sokka saw a few chairs and people milling around inside. One woman, with black hair and tattoos on every inch of skin, noticed Sokka standing there with his bouquet and stood to greet him. 

“Hey, I’m June.” She said as she opened the door. Sokka found himself admiring the inked-on fire lacing around her neck. “You have an appointment?”

“No, actually. I’m here to see Zuko Lee?”

“He’s available, but you still need an appointment to see him.”

“I’m not here for a tattoo.”

June’s mouth formed an o as she noticed Sokka’s flowers. Then she smirked. “Oh, this should be interesting. Come on in.”

Sokka stepped into the warm building that seemed to be covered in drawings, mostly of fire and dragons. June lead him to a back room with the door slightly open, and he stepped in as the woman left. Zuko sat at a black wooden desk, drawing something with an intense look of concentration on his face. Sokka cleared his throat and the other man just about jumped out of his skin. The chair wheeled backwards as Zuko stood wuickly and covered the drawing with his laptop.

Sokka smiled as Zuko stammered. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. I believe I owe you an apology.” He held out the flowers and Zuko reached over his desks to grab them.

“For what?”

“Being an oblivious dumbass.”

Zuko grinned and tucked a strand of long hair behind his ear. “Thanks. These are beautiful. And you aren’t a dumbass, you just didn’t know.”

“Yeah, but...I don’t know. I just feel really bad for shutting you down when I wanted to date you, too.”

“Wait, really? Why?”

Sokka laughed and looked around at the drawings littering the walls before answering. One was of a pretty girl with a bun and an angry expression, another was a shadow monster looming over a little boy, and one was of a theater mask. “Because you’re pretty, and funny, and an amazing artist. Seriously, how do you do this stuff? The best I can do is draw a lumpy dog.”

“Guess I just had practice.”

Sokka looked at the desk and vaguely saw, beneath the laptop, the edge of a face that looked suspiciously like his own. “Well, would you like to have more practice? I’d love to get a tattoo if you’re availible.”

Zuko’ eyes went wide as saucers before he smiled and stepped around the desk. “Of course. What were you thinking?”

So many options. He wasn’t even sure half of his ideas would be okay to wear at a school. But then his eyes caught on another one of the drawings on the walls, something that looked like a bunch of swirls at first. But when he looked closer, he saw they represented earth, water, fire, and air. Huh. That seemed cool, and it wouldn’t be bad to have as a physics teacher. 

Sokka pointed to the drawing and Zuko turned. “I can do that.”

Ten minutes later, Sokka was sitting in one of the many leather chairs with his sleeve rolled up to his bicep. Zuko’s touch was gentle and shaky, which would’ve worried Sokka except for the fact that he trusted this guy. His drawing hand seemed much more steady than the other one, anyways. His hands were warm and comforting.

They managed to make conversation as Zuko drew. First about Izumi, then about Sokka’s friends, then they ventured into more tentative topics—sexuality, family, home life. Sokka hardly felt the needle in his skin as he listened to Zuko gush about his dog, Druk. 

He didn’t notice the tattoo was finished until ten minutes after, when Zuko finally said he’d been done for a while but didn’t want to stop talking. Sokka looked over and saw a perfect drawing of the four elements sitting on his upper arm. He smiled wide and tried to pay Zuko, but the other man stopped him.

“I was thinking of a payment more like...taking me to dinner?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


End file.
